84 Fleet - 09 Tacoma - Project

[Living The Dream]

Looks great! To source the UHMW plastic try Grainger or Amazon. Just curious as I am about to start bending EMT lift panels for my project..How sturdy is the roof against front to back forces such as wind? That's the one thing I am struggling to wrap my head around with the EMT conduit lift system.

I have not had any issues. I had one night when the wind was really whipping that I almost put the top down. But when I woke in the morning the roof was still there. Make sure you check out the granby build were I got the design from, many of my initial questions are in that thread.

Nice job! I would give serious thought to wiring before you put anything back together. I also suggest using 2 wires not a hot and frame ground. Marine stuff is your best bet. It's made to hold up in tough environments.

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely map out all the wiring before hand to try to make sure I don't forget anything. Ill look into the Marine but the cheap stuff off amazon is usually too good to pass up.

 

[Qcamper]

Hey Tim, I just wanted to let you know I got my EMT lifts and struts mounted. I can't believe how well it works so far. This is how it should be from the factory in my opinion.
Alot of my liner damage is from the old lift panels. Thanks for all of the information and tips.

 

[Living The Dream]

Hey Tim, I just wanted to let you know I got my EMT lifts and struts mounted. I can't believe how well it works so far. This is how it should be from the factory in my opinion.
Alot of my liner damage is from the old lift panels. Thanks for all of the information and tips.

Awesome! Glad it went smoothly for you. Ill be making my second set soon after I redo my linear and raise the roof a bit. Id love to see some photos when you get a chance.

 

[Squatch]

Seems like your tubular lifts would make it easy to get a full 360* wrap with a homemade arctic liner.

 

[Living The Dream]

Seems like your tubular lifts would make it easy to get a full 360* wrap with a homemade arctic liner.

That's definitely my goal. Need to make the canvas first which I am nervous about messing up...

 

[Qcamper]

Tim,

I am going to make mine taller when I replace my sideliner too. How tall do you plan on going?
I think I am going to put a window in the front and possibly back end as well.
Squatch, what do you mean by a full 360 wrap? Do you mean that the arctic liner isn't in the front and back?
The great thing about the EMT lifts is for another 20 bucks or so you can make new lifts for the increased height.

 

[Living The Dream]

Tim,

I am going to make mine taller when I replace my sideliner too. How tall do you plan on going?
I think I am going to put a window in the front and possibly back end as well.
Squatch, what do you mean by a full 360 wrap? Do you mean that the arctic liner isn't in the front and back?
The great thing about the EMT lifts is for another 20 bucks or so you can make new lifts for the increased height.

I am thinking I will add another 6 inches to make it 30 inches total interior lift.. Currently the clearance is about 5'10", so the change would bump me up to 6'4". I am standing a bit shy of 6' so this will be much more comfortable for me.

I do not believe the stock linear do a full 360 warp because of the lift panels you can not put easily access behind to place fabric, but I may be wrong.

I was working with someone figuring out the windows today. I think I will do two big windows on each side, 4 total. I am really hopeful I get mine water tight. I am thinking I will put the clear plastic on the outside, to ensure water proofing (use a stitch that would require water to travel uphill to get into the camper, but can also be rolled up for air circulation) and put the canvas flap on the inside for easy of adding privacy, peaking out in the AM. I am thinking linear will be a July project for me. Slow and steady.

Also, I am still toying with the idea of passing this off to a professional, I simply have zero sewing expereince. If you know anyone in the Front Range that might tackle this job please pass the info along.

 

[Living The Dream]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Back at it with another few weeks of progress to report on! [/SIZE]



Exterior Paint

[SIZE=14.6667px]All the previous painting was done on the truck but the floorpack and the front paneling can only be accessed off the truck. For this I was lucky enough to secure a barn to work in for one week. And being grateful for the space I wanted to be out of there in just a few days. So I recruited a few friends and we got to it. With 5 painters the work went so quick I only snapped a few photos.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The farm was a beautiful classic Colorado plains farm with many buildings. I had access to the mechanics barn for a few days. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]This is the camper after a bit of priming. Also, sidenote I got this primer for for free from the Boulder hazardous waste facility. [/SIZE]

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[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]http://www.bouldercounty.org/env/hazwaste/pages/hazmatfacility.aspx[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]Boulder, being the eco-conscious place it is, strives to keep excess chemicals out of landfills. This means they have a free area at the recycling center with tons of paints and stain that are free to a good home. I got an unopened gallon of primer at the low cost of a smaller eco footprint![/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]We did two coats of primer and one of paint the first days in just a few hours![/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The next day was a second coat of paint and we were starting to really look good![/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]In the meantime I prepped all the trim. I replaced a few pieces and primed and painted everything with rustoleum's flat brown spray. I am really happy with how it turned out. For the screw to secure the trim I ended up bumping up one size. I do love the traditional 1/4" screws but I got a lot of spinners being 30+years old so the extra size helps make a more secure fit.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Three days later (work days none the less) it was back on the truck and the majority of the exterior fix up is complete!! I am very grateful for the friends that helped and the barn to do the work in![/SIZE]

 

[Living The Dream]

Exterior Trim:
Since the exterior paint was complete it was time to finish the exterior project with the trim. Again I went with flat brown for the angle aluminum but stuck with the traditional white for the other pieces (not sure what these are called).

[SIZE=14.6667px]Like all paint jobs this took patients and many coats. I also worked on painting the windows and other bits and pieces too.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Before the trim the camper was looking pretty disheveled. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]But I am really happy with how the brown edges outline the gloss white. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The windows still are not fully installed. I ran out of hardware, but it is on the to do list and the are tacked in place for now.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Under the angle aluminum I did not add any putty or butyl tape since there was none when I took it off. Hopefully I do not regret this later. I feel this simple trim is just to keep the sheet metal secure and there are plenty of other weatherproofing feature in these spots. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I did put the butyl tape under the other trim pieces. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]https://www.amazon.com/Dicor-BT-1834-1-Butyl-Seal-Tape/dp/B001FCB4JS[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I also have the inserts for this trim piece. You can see a test piece here. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Here is link to the trim insert from amazon, or just google : Camco 25232 Vinyl Trim Insert (1" x 100', Brown)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]I had a hard time finding this so I wanted to be sure to share it now.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006JLW66/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/SIZE]

Porch Lights:
[SIZE=14.6667px]While I am working on the rear of the camper I might as well take care of a few other items. I bought one new porch light to replace my switchless one. But when I was at five star RV I found a new lens for my broken porch light and said, “why not two”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Quick note, for those of us in Colorado’s front range. I was really happy to have stopped into five star RV, [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]http://www.fivestarrvgroup.com/[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Thier salvaged barns are crazy! Just organized enough to find things, but still need to know what you are looking for. If you are looking for an odd item or two, I would try this place, I had good luck.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I also replaced the porch light bulbs with new LED ones. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Also, what I did with my two porch lights is solder on an extra hot wire coming off the switch. Now when I turn on the switch on my passenger porch light, both lights turn on! I am really proud of this![/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Lights on, they don’t throw a ton of light, but I think it will be sufficient. I am not doing any floodlights. That can be for camper 3.0 next summer if I find myself wanting more. [/SIZE]

3rd Brake light
[SIZE=14.6667px]I am trying to stay focused on certain projects and actually complete parts of the camper so with that I went ahead and put my 3rd brake lights on. These I actually purchased many months ago but just got around to them now.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D1ASSY6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Very low investment. They claim to be waterproof but I will have to give a full report later. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]They are simple peel and stick! The black looks a little strange but I think it works okay. And I like the corner style lights![/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I ran the wires into the camper under the trim. Then combined them all with some simple crimps and 18 gauge wire. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]It is a bit messy since the hot wire runs from the driver side over to the passenger light, then off the switch and back to the driver side. But it works okay and will all be tucked under the panels anyways. The connection for the 3rd brake light wire runs alongside the propane tank out the bottom and to the driver tail light where I have a connector from my old topper. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]To make a simple waterproof wire exit I was fortunate enough that my pack of MC4 renogy connector came with 1 too many connectors. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]So I grabbed the hacksaw and harvested a waterproof connector! [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I also chipped my new paint with too aggressive of a drill bit, but it is going to get wear eventually anyways so no worries. This bolt is just hoping it while the glue sets. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]For six dollar LED strips I’d say I am pretty happy with the final results.[/SIZE]

 

[Living The Dream]

Flooring:
[SIZE=14.6667px]To get to work on the interior I picked up some snap together laminate flooring. Keeping with my budget build I got this for ~0.30$ a sq foot. In Boulder there is a used building material store called resource. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]https://conservationcenter.org/resource/[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]This is an excellent resource for people building things on a budget or just trying to consume less in the world. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]We are going with light walls and dark floor so this works perfect![/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Snaps together and floats (no glue) so assembly is pretty straight forward.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The final product came out great! I did make a small mistake on the last row but the lower cabinets will cover it anyways.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Then to get ready for panels I need insulation. This insulation is from the same resource store. I think it cost about $10 for plenty of 1” rigid board.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I also wanted to put in proper wood backing in locations that something gets mounted to on the exterior like, electrical pass through, porch lights, etc. So I cut and painted the wood for protection.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]This is for the electrical feedthrough and water drain.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]And since the wood is only ¾” for a 1” space a put in a bit of insulation too.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Cut and snap.[/SIZE]
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[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Hoping this will keep things nice and toast next ski season![/SIZE]

 

[ski3pin]

Looking good and kudos for finding/using discarded products!

 

[takesiteasy]

Your project is looking great!

 

[longhorn1]

Great job. jd

Sent from my SM-G900V using Wander The West mobile app

 

[Qcamper]

Sweet!! Coming along great

 

[Living The Dream]

[SIZE=26.6667px]Catchup[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]Hi Everyone, [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I want to thank everyone that has been supportive of my project so far. Many of you have really helped a ton. I really let the reporting on the project drift away. This past summer completely ran away from me. I did not get nearly as much work on the camper done as I had hoped, I feel like that is probably every project. But not to worry, I am back working hard on the camper and want to do some catch up of the past few months of progress.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=26.6667px]Panels[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]When I last reported I was working on the panels, I spent a lot of time planning all this and I am happy to report they seem to have come out pretty well! [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]1st thing I did was grab the graph paper and sketched out the entire camper, checking everything twice or three times. I made two sets of sketches, on3 of the frames and one of the panel dimensions. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I would like to share these sketches with you now, maybe you will find them useful. I make no promises that these are 100% accurate (as I know there are a few mistake) but for people trying to run wires or find studs behind their panels maybe you will find these useful.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The 1st set is the frame of the camper. Each tube is 1” I tried to draw double tubes when there is either 2 1” tubes butted together, or a full 2” tube.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Again this is for an older style Fleet Camper 7 Foot model, manufactured mid 80s.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Overview[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Driver Side Frame[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Front Frame[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Passenger Side Frame[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Rear Frame[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Roof Frame[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Floor[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Below are the second set of sketches of the panels. These measurements are from a mix of measuring the original panels and measuring the actual gap on the camper. HOWEVER, I suggest you take an ⅛ inch off of all perimeters measurements here. I did not take into account the trim I added and had to sand down/dremel many edges to get them fit. It did work in the end but these dimensions are truly the dimensions of the max gap that could fit on these walls, do yourself a favor and leave some room to wiggle them in. Plus there will be the volume two of the panels take up on the wall. Use these sketches as a reference, but I would suggest you redo these yourself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Overview. The extra straight pieces on the side are for some wood runner supports I will write up later.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Passenger and Driver side panels. Notice on the driver side I spilt the panel into two. I did this so I could remove the top of the panel without removing all the cabinets. I originally planned to run my wires behind the top region which would allow me to easily remove that piece and fix the wires if need, I have since decided against this but still have the split in the panels. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Rear Panel. I decided to spit this wall in three separate pieces; left side, right side, and a small runner on top that the roof mechanism will be overlapping. That was should I ever need to take these panels off again, I would not need to remove the lifting mechanisms which will overlap. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Front panel. The most complex panel to cut. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Hope some people find these drawings helpful. I had aspiration of putting together a CAD model for fun, but at this point in time I am just focusing on physical work instead. For date reference this work was done in June/July 2016.[/SIZE]

 

[Living The Dream]

[SIZE=26.6667px]Wood Runners[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]White I got to work on the panels, I also had another small project I wanted to get done before putting panels on. On the driver and passenger side of the camper, along the top, there was wood planks between the panels and the aluminum skin, where the insulation would normally go. You can see it pretty clearly here:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I am not sure if that was factory item or not, nor if FWC continue to do this, but I liked the idea, so I wanted to keep it. I was also going to expand on this and add one of these runners to the front cabover too. To give something sturdy to mount into not only for the lifter mechanism, but for anything down the road. I am thinking these wood pieces would be good for mounting interior D-ring for hanging items on, or exterior cleat to tying things to the roof. I understand it adds just a touch of weight up high, but I think it is pretty minimal. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Anyways, I made quick work of this one afternoon, simply cutting wood to length, a couple of coats of paint just to protect the wood and they went in without a hitch. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I did need to take out all the screw that hold the top railing on, but that was fine. It did take some harming to finesse t[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]he planks in. I guess I forgot to grab a photo of the finished product on the inside. But once these were mounted I was able to add the roof latches back on and did reinstall my front lifting mechanism. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=26.6667px]Passthrough lids[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]While I was at it, I also made fresh lids for for the passthroughs. Simple, to the point, and will help keep cold air out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]For reference this work was performed in June 2016.[/SIZE]

 

[Living The Dream]

[SIZE=26.6667px]Moving[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]What really slowed down my truck camper progress this summer with a move in the end of June. Where I live is very expensive and our landlords got greedy, so we said, fine we will move. But with that came something awesome, finally a home for my truck camper! A nice attached garage just steps from my kitchen! It was a great decision. And it was only a two block move so all is good![/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The camper needs to come off the truck outside the garage, then on to two small furniture dolly, and roll it right in. Not perfectly ideal but it works just fine. The new neighbors get a kick out of my project so all is good to continue to move forward with the full refurb.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]

[/SIZE]

Now I can tackle real refurbish jobs like taking of the roof, etc.

[SIZE=14.6667px]And I know it is not truck camper related but I figured I would just share. A friend's company was getting rid of this awesome electronics table so now I have a proper work bench too. It has been night and day difference to finally have a work space compared to slumming it in the parking lot. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]For reference this work was performed in July 2016.[/SIZE]

 

[Living The Dream]

[SIZE=26.6667px]Panels 2[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]Back in June I purchased Lauan from Austin’s Hardwood in Denver. I went with the Lauan because when I called FWC this is what they claim they are using today. The 4X8 sheets were $15 a piece, I got four of them. The camper is a utility vehicle too![/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Then the panels sat in the shop for a really long time but when I did finally get to them things went relatively smoothly. I have access to a fantastic shop since I am a graduate student. Almost every tool you can think of which makes all the difference for a job. This was my first time using a track saw, really the perfect tool for cutting out the panels. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Measure twice cut once.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]This front panel was by far the most difficult to cut. But all of it went smooth enough. For the corners I cut most of the cut with the track saw, then finished the last inch with a jig saw free hand.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]It was a good feeling when the piece fit in the puzzle properly![/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]For trim I just went to Home depot and picked up this molding cap[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]http://www.homedepot.com/p/867-1-4-in-x-3-4-in-x-8-ft-PVC-Composite-White-FRP-Cap-Moulding-0086708001/100565070[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Cheap and just what I needed. I used a little razor saw miter box to cut the angles. It took a little back and forth but everything lined up pretty well.[/SIZE]

I knew I needed to account for the thickness of the trim and I thought I did when cutting to the inside line with an ⅛ inch blade. But it was not enough. I ended up needing to use the dremel to get these pieces to fit just perfectly. But also I do not think everything in the camper is truly square. In the future I would just give myself a ¼ all the way around. It would still look 100% fine with the small gap. But the good thing is it does fit extremely well.

[SIZE=14.6667px]Next up will be paint for these panels and trim.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]For reference this work was performed in August 2016.[/SIZE]

 

[Living The Dream]

[SIZE=26.6667px]Panels 3[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]The work on the panels progressed very smoothly. I primed some pieces while cutting trim and getting the right fit with other pieces. I went with three coats of primer on both sides. Really want to make sure these are sealed fully.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I only made one cutting mistake on the panels but luckily it was the easiest piece to redo. [/SIZE]

The Colorado fall is perfect project weather.

[SIZE=14.6667px]For reference this work was performed in September 2016.[/SIZE]

 

[Living The Dream]

[SIZE=26.6667px]Trim [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]I mentioned earlier where I got the trim from. But we picked out a great color palette of light gray, dark gray, and brown so the trim needed to be painted. All this painting was with spray paint. Two coats of primer, three light coats of paint. I am nearly certain the primer and the paint are the same color [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]My neat set up.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]But the front range wind had other plans, so it was back to a table for final coats.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I am really happy with how the paint on the panels turned out. Three coats of color with light sanding in between. It is a very light gray color.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]It was a fun little puzzle to get all the pieces to match back up..[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]For reference this work was performed in October 2016.[/SIZE]